Save[[EDC 431 F10 Observe and Reflect Journal#|Cancel]]
Edit This Page
Observation / Reflection #5: The Game of School
In The Passionate Teacher, Ron Fried describes the Game of School (GOS) as what happens when teachers and students forsake intellectual work and instead engage in their classes as rituals. Take this opportunity to consider this chapter in light of some of the the other experiences that you've had this semester. What elements of the game of school are you seeing in your placements? How have you seen teachers fight the game of school in their classes? What similarities, if any, did you see between the descriptions of American classes in the Teaching Gap and the Game of School? Finally, what impact will this description of the GOS have on your own approach to teaching as expressed in your teaching philosophy?
Game of School:
For the most part, I definitely feel that Mrs. Hannah fights against the game of school. She does not characterize her teaching as a duty, she portrays herself to the students as wanting to be there because she is doing what she loves. This is a great thing that she does this because if she acted as if she was just there because she had to the be, the students are going to pick up on that attitude as well and start acting the same. Once the teacher develops a "pattern" for their teaching style, the students notice it and become accustomed to it. Now, everyday becomes almost like a routine to the students, doing what they have to do to pass and that is it. The teachers need to fight against this so called "game" and make everyday new, exciting, and different. They need to constantly challenge their students, keeping them on their toes and always surprised. Just as the game of school speaks about, teachers sometimes do just enough to get by and teach only what they have to, because they do that little bit extra, they do not get paid any more. This is unfortunate, because every teacher should want to go above and beyond for their students and they should not settle for anything less. Mrs. Hannah is a great example of a teacher that does this. Everyday when the students walk into her classroom they do not know what to expect. She has daily objectives written on the board everyday for the students to copy down that are always different. Mrs. Hannah does not set a routine or pattern for her classroom that will get old and boring very quickly. She constantly has new and exciting activities and lessons in the works for her students, from small group activities to labs to mini-experiments. Mrs. Hannah is for sure a teacher that fights against the "game of school", preventing routines and patterns from controlling her classroom.
Teaching Gap:
Unlike as with the game of school, where I did not see many similarities between that and Mrs. Hannah's classroom, I did find quite a few with the Teaching Gap. For one, in the American schools used in the study, the nature of the content of the subject reflected greatly around definitions. There were many instances where I saw students simply defining the definitions and memorizing them, just as in the American schools. Whereas in the Japan schools, the students were not just defining definitions, but they were then using them to study the relationships among different terms and topics and applying them to real-life situations. Definitions need to be used to explore the deeper meaning of a subject, it should not be just a simple memorization game. I believe this stems from the fact that in American schools, it was proven that teachers try to cover more material throughout the year, and in return do so in a less sufficient way. The Japan schools were covering less material, but the material being covered was being learned inside and out. I truly believe that teachers need to break the habit of thinking they need to rush through a unit just to get it finished. As a teacher, I would rather have my students take more time to finish a unit, and at the end of it truly understand what they learned. I do not want my students to simply memorize terms and information. I want them to be able to apply it, use it, and compare it to other terms, really understanding its meaning. I hope that this is something I can fight against, and change in my own classroom one day. I do not want to follow the same pattern that is found in many American classrooms in today's school system.
- none
[[EDC 431 F10 Observe and Reflect Journal#|edit]]Save[[EDC 431 F10 Observe and Reflect Journal#|Cancel]]
Observation / Reflection #5: The Game of School
In The Passionate Teacher, Ron Fried describes the Game of School (GOS) as what happens when teachers and students forsake intellectual work and instead engage in their classes as rituals. Take this opportunity to consider this chapter in light of some of the the other experiences that you've had this semester. What elements of the game of school are you seeing in your placements? How have you seen teachers fight the game of school in their classes? What similarities, if any, did you see between the descriptions of American classes in the Teaching Gap and the Game of School? Finally, what impact will this description of the GOS have on your own approach to teaching as expressed in your teaching philosophy?Game of School:
For the most part, I definitely feel that Mrs. Hannah fights against the game of school. She does not characterize her teaching as a duty, she portrays herself to the students as wanting to be there because she is doing what she loves. This is a great thing that she does this because if she acted as if she was just there because she had to the be, the students are going to pick up on that attitude as well and start acting the same. Once the teacher develops a "pattern" for their teaching style, the students notice it and become accustomed to it. Now, everyday becomes almost like a routine to the students, doing what they have to do to pass and that is it. The teachers need to fight against this so called "game" and make everyday new, exciting, and different. They need to constantly challenge their students, keeping them on their toes and always surprised. Just as the game of school speaks about, teachers sometimes do just enough to get by and teach only what they have to, because they do that little bit extra, they do not get paid any more. This is unfortunate, because every teacher should want to go above and beyond for their students and they should not settle for anything less. Mrs. Hannah is a great example of a teacher that does this. Everyday when the students walk into her classroom they do not know what to expect. She has daily objectives written on the board everyday for the students to copy down that are always different. Mrs. Hannah does not set a routine or pattern for her classroom that will get old and boring very quickly. She constantly has new and exciting activities and lessons in the works for her students, from small group activities to labs to mini-experiments. Mrs. Hannah is for sure a teacher that fights against the "game of school", preventing routines and patterns from controlling her classroom.
Teaching Gap:
Unlike as with the game of school, where I did not see many similarities between that and Mrs. Hannah's classroom, I did find quite a few with the Teaching Gap. For one, in the American schools used in the study, the nature of the content of the subject reflected greatly around definitions. There were many instances where I saw students simply defining the definitions and memorizing them, just as in the American schools. Whereas in the Japan schools, the students were not just defining definitions, but they were then using them to study the relationships among different terms and topics and applying them to real-life situations. Definitions need to be used to explore the deeper meaning of a subject, it should not be just a simple memorization game. I believe this stems from the fact that in American schools, it was proven that teachers try to cover more material throughout the year, and in return do so in a less sufficient way. The Japan schools were covering less material, but the material being covered was being learned inside and out. I truly believe that teachers need to break the habit of thinking they need to rush through a unit just to get it finished. As a teacher, I would rather have my students take more time to finish a unit, and at the end of it truly understand what they learned. I do not want my students to simply memorize terms and information. I want them to be able to apply it, use it, and compare it to other terms, really understanding its meaning. I hope that this is something I can fight against, and change in my own classroom one day. I do not want to follow the same pattern that is found in many American classrooms in today's school system.